Help! Very Unique Situation!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey guys, I really need help now. Sorry for the long post!</p>

<p>I am in a very unique situation (Maybe there are guys like me out there but I've never met one around) where my teachers don’t really know what to do with me. I have a relatively low GPA (Our school course load is INSANE), an ok SAT, and pretty outstanding ECs (At least for people in China, it’s extremely hard to do ECs outside a school level or rare to do anything other than academic stuff).
Our school never had someone like me so I’ve heard two possible fates from my teacher:
1. There are tons of kids with 4.0 GPAs in the world and not many with the same level of EC ability and maturity as you do=You’ll probably be like a black horse or sth
2. Your application is probably going to be thrown away the second the AOs see your GPA=You’re doomed
So yeah, I really don’t know. Which “fate” will be more likely to happen and what do you think my chances are going to be at:
1. Top top schools like HYP and such
2. Top schools like Emory, BC, Northwestern, Georgetown and such
3. Good schools like NYU, BU and such
4. Or am I not gonna have a chance at either</p>

<p>I plan to major in Business (if no business school then double econ and psych) I am pretty experienced for my age.
I should be able to write outstanding essays. Recs are also solid.</p>

<p>Here are my stats: (kinda long sorry, all names are crossed out due to confidentiality)
Scores:
• SAT I (breakdown): 2110, 650CR, 710 M, 750 W
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.70 But VERY sharp upward trend, I didn’t realize the importance of getting good grades until my junior year
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 40%
• Senior Year Course Load: All APs and Honors, very rigorous
• Asian, US Citizen living in Shanghai, China</p>

<p>ECs: (I will only list some of my major ones)
• Organizer and Leader of (Company) China campaign
Sold American (products) in China to fund cataracts surgeries for the poor
Created developmental strategy into China market for (Company), secured a 20k budget for a three-month product launch and social branding campaign
Lead a team of 4 core members and numerous volunteers of high school and college students
Directed offline sales: Negotiated for and secured sales booth with core team at Shanghai’s largest mall, (Mall); directed sales strategy and team, sold 800 (product) in two months and raised over 13000 dollars
Secured partnerships with Shanghai’s top cataract hospitals and Shanghai Charity Foundation to conduct 80 cataract surgeries for low-income elderly of Shanghai
Won Outstanding Contribution Award from (Company)
• Head of School Media Department
Elected as director and News Anchor for School TV Broadcast
Hosted numerous school scaled events
• Founder and Editor in Chief of (Website)
Created a psychology website with AP Psych Class
Divided the class into think tanks, researchers, writers, editors, and art editors
Regulated the flow of quality of the articles
• Visionary and Founder of UrTurn, (Not yet launched) Grade 11
I designed this innovative apparel company (Very unique idea, will not be presenting it here sorry guys :-/) and wrote the full business plan for it at Brown University Summer Camp. My business professor was really impressed by it and told me “You are more than ready to do business.”
• Strategic Planner of (Club) Environmental
Planned numerous campaigns, received endorsement from US Consulate, Sanitation Bureau and Coca-Cola Co.
Collected 1.6 tons of waste paper in 1 month
Donated 300 notebooks made from recycled paper to 108 poor kids that cannot afford paper in rural areas
Working on a project to save plastic by persuading people to use Coca-Cola manufactured Ice Dew water bottles, which is composed of a much lighter, thinner plastic which is environmental friendly. Received endorsement and support from the company
• Volunteer at (Hospital)
Participated as the only junior member in a project to help teenagers build Psychological Resilience at the biggest psychiatrist hospital in Shanghai
Worked with developmental psychologists, psychology teachers, and homeroom teachers around Shanghai to help Chinese middle school students build psychology resilience to fight depression and suicide
• Intern at (Company), the biggest online retail website in China
Worked on international real estate to link China and America
Helped Chinese people find the cheapest real estate they could find in the US. Negotiated with US housing contractors and Chinese buyers
• Arranged juniors (seniors) to provide consulting and lectures to sophomores (juniors) on how to choose AP courses (colleges)
Noticing the lack of counseling services and the confusion of sophomores, joined forces with the lower grade student council to organize juniors to give sophomores advice and lectures on how to choose AP classes
Later organized seniors who had visited colleges to advise juniors on how to pick the right college for them
• (School) Varsity Competitive Swim Team
• Writer and Director of short films</p>

<p>Thanks so much! Pleeeease shed some light for me!</p>

2

<p>Good chance at NYU/BC, should be in at BU.
All the others are low to high reach.</p>

3

<p>How about Stern?</p>

4

<p>Good chance still. NYU Stern and NYU CAS are not hugely different for admissions. NYU CAS is the most applied to private college of arts and sciences in the US, they can be very selective if they want. Both Stern and CAS enjoy acceptance rates in the 20s%.</p>

5

<p>But they have stronger applicants too right? Is it good to demonstrate my business ECs+side more when applying to Stern?</p>

6

<p>I am an international business professional that has lived and worked in over 25 countries and the bottom line is that you are not that unusual. You just haven’t been “diagnosed” properly and your teachers are most likely academics with little business experience.</p>

<p>What you have is a typical entrepreneurial personality and you should not go to HYP or other such schools. They would be a complete waste of time for you. You need to get into a business entrepreneurship program that has an international business concentration. </p>

<p>Here is a link to the top 25 undergrad schools for entrepreneurship in the USA: [Top</a> 25 Undergraduate Entrepreneurial Colleges for 2012 | Entrepreneur.com](<a href=“Top colleges and business schools for entrepreneurs.”>Top colleges and business schools for entrepreneurs.)</p>

<p>Make sure that you pick one with an international concentration. I know that USC has one and I am sure many of the others do to.</p>

<p>Your teachers just don’t know who you really are. I see it because I recognize a fellow international entrepreneur and my life is full of them because most of my colleagues are just like me. Your profile is typical – lot’s of energy (sometimes unfocused), grades are less important than being “out there” accomplishing things in the real world, not “fitting in” to the traditional categories of students, etc. In fact, you might feel completely out of place at your school. Anyway, I never felt at home in any environment until I discovered that I was an international entrepreneur.</p>

<p>By the way, this is the MBA program that I went to and it was perfect for an international entrepreneur. It was the first time in my life I felt surrounded by like minded individuals. But you need to do undergrad first: [Thunderbird</a> School of Global Management](<a href=“http://www.thunderbird.edu/]Thunderbird”>http://www.thunderbird.edu/)
This is the world’s top ranked international MBA: [International</a> Business School MBA Rankings - Thunderbird Global School of Management](<a href=“About | Thunderbird School of Global Management”>About | Thunderbird School of Global Management)</p>

7

<p>I’d agree- you have a nice chance at NYU and BU, but those higher tier schools are definitely a reach</p>